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DPP# 162 "Price increases? Better sell that Metallica"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·32m 46s·analyzed·Dec 4, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Stern price hikes loom as Metallica (LE) flip for $18k; D&D sales lag while Evil Dead thrives.

Summary

Don discusses Stern's expected January price increases (potentially to $13,600 for LEs), the Metallica (LE) strong secondary market performance ($17k-$18k), Jurassic Park (Home Edition) clearance pricing at Costco ($3,700), speculation about Tron and Ghostbusters remasters, concerns about Dungeons & Dragons sales momentum, and Spooky Pinball successful Evil Dead pre-order run (673 units sold, 215 remaining).

Key Claims

  • Stern Pinball is planning a price increase in January, with LEs potentially reaching $13,600

    medium confidence · Don (host) citing distributor invoice and speculation about market trends; uses 'Nostradamus' as a humorous oracle figure for predictions

  • Metallica (LE) are trading hands in the secondary market for $17,000-$18,000

    high confidence · Don reporting direct observation of secondary market pricing; stated as personal witness to deal discussions

  • Jurassic Park (Home Edition) was clearance-priced at $3,700 at a Costco in Rockford, Illinois

    high confidence · Don citing photo leak and personal store visits to confirm pricing and selective regional distribution

  • Spooky Pinball sold 673 Evil Dead units (215 remaining of estimated 888 total pre-order capacity)

    high confidence · Don monitoring Spooky's website order system and calculating remaining inventory from posted limits

  • Dungeons & Dragons (Brian Eddy) is not tracking as a sales juggernaut like Jaws or Kong

    medium confidence · Don expressing opinion based on general market sentiment and game positioning for operators vs. home collectors

  • Stern operates at a scale where selling 1,500 units is considered a failure; they need 3,000+ persistent sales

    medium confidence · Don contrasting Stern's business model with Spooky's smaller production targets and goals

  • Tron remaster is rumored to be the next Stern remaster after Metallica

    medium confidence · Don hearing 'whispers in the blogosphere' about Tron; also referencing skepticism from a mini-golf vendor at an event

  • Stern has five years of remasters in the pipeline; Ghostbusters is predicted to follow Tron

    low confidence · Don speculating about remaster cadence (3 cornerstones + 1 remaster per year) and using 'Nostradamus' for predictions

Notable Quotes

  • “if they turned and burned on the next turn cornerstone release thirteen thousand six hundred dollars for the next thousand run nine hundred run whatever they're going to do... I guess I wouldn't be surprised at that figure what i would not be at that figure is a buyer”

    Don @ ~early segment — Core thesis: Don predicts LE pricing at $13.6k and expresses doubt that buyers will materialize at that price point

  • “Turn and burn that thing, man... if you spent the 96.99 msrp for this thing you're still going to clear you know another 7k man so go get on something else”

    Don @ ~Metallica segment — Explicit advice to secondary market flippers on Metallica LEs; suggests market has peaked and prices will soften

  • “I don't think even I would jump at that at an LE... if no one's buying these new in-box games, they're going to sit in distributors and then they'll be sold... We see that happening right now with Jersey Jack's backlog”

    Don @ ~pricing segment — Don predicting price correction mechanisms via distributor inventory if Stern overprices; JJP backlog cited as cautionary example

  • “Spooky Pinball, this plucky company that started from literally nothing... just blossomed into this sprawling compound now on a hilltop in Wisconsin... they're not hard on the eyes either... Hashtag bug stash”

    Don @ ~Spooky segment — Affectionate characterization of Spooky's brand identity, scale, and culture vs. Stern; personal brand admiration

  • “I want to like it. I like Brian Eddy last game. I like Venom... The idea of leveling up, fantastically awesome... come to find out it means absolutely nothing... There's got to be an in-game store”

    Don @ ~D&D segment — Specific gameplay criticism of D&D: progression mechanics lack payoff; contrasts with successful in-game currency in Jaws and Mandalorian

  • “If you got a Tron and you don't like love it, maybe list it before next year when we see this. People are talking about remasters coming once a year now”

    Don @ ~Tron segment — Advice to current Tron owners to sell before remaster announcement; implies yearly remaster cadence is expected

Entities

DonpersonStern PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyMetallicagameDungeons & DragonsgameEvil Deadgame

Signals

  • $

    market_signal: Stern planning January price increase for LE games to $13,600, following year-plus freeze; Don predicts this will suppress new-in-box sales and create secondary market softening

    medium · Distributor invoice received; 'Nostradamus' prediction at $13.6k; Don's observation that Venom LE at $13k was already difficult sell three months post-launch

  • ?

    collector_signal: Metallica LE secondary market trading at $17k-$18k (vs. $12.5-$13k MSRP); Don advises flipping before price softens post-Kong/Harry Potter releases

    high · Direct observation of deal discussions; Don notes game will peak and prices will slide; Metallica LE sold out quickly despite high pricing

  • ?

    product_launch: Jurassic Park Home Edition clearance-priced at $3,700 at selective Costco locations four weeks before Christmas; may indicate slower-than-expected retail penetration or successful sellthrough requiring inventory clearing

    high · Photo leak of Costco clearance tag; Don confirmed via in-person store checks (Rockford IL had units, Madison WI and Chicago area did not); selective warehouse distribution targeting higher-margin locations

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Dungeons & Dragons (Brian Eddy) failing to generate sales momentum comparable to recent hits; described as 'not a sales juggernaut'

    medium · Don stating explicitly 'Not a sales juggernaut' twice; game criticized for weak progression payoff despite Brian Eddy's design pedigree; positioned as operator-focused rather than collector-friendly

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern establishing yearly remaster cycle: 3 cornerstone releases + 1 remaster annually; Tron rumored next, Ghostbusters predicted to follow

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.098

0:00
Hey there, listener. Somehow, out of all of the pinball podcasts out there, you've stumbled here on one of the more frequent and forward-facing pinball exuberant celebrations on the internet, Spotify, or beyond. So let's get into this, just like that sequel to Taxi starring Madonna that all the documents just blew up all over the internet there. We're going to talk not about that, but about some more things that are going on within the pinball arena. I don't know what you call it. Hit the drop. By my count, we're at episode 162 of Don's Pinball Podcast. Gather around, everybody. Bring it in. Let's just go and talk rap prosthetic about the pinball and the pinball industry and such. I want to do a recording today because I'm filling a damn void that has shown up. It's been a week since I've dropped an episode. There's some WAP that's in there. Waiting on the pinball show because I need to know the market trends. I want to know what's on the line. And then, boom, it dropped right in my DMs or my distributor, Mad Pinball. I got a brand spanking new invoice for Metallica. Excited about that. I want to talk about that. I want to talk about buying games now before the price increases in January. What's going on? Is D&D DOA? How about that? Also, there's 250 Evil Deads left. Let's get into this. So the word that's been permeating the ether sphere and ether space is that the price increase that has been put off for the last year or so from Stern Pinball is apparently coming in January.
1:35
Terrible idea, man. Come on, come on. We know prices are already outrageous, and with inflation outpacing it, if they keep the price the same as they've done for the last year, year and a half, two years, it's like with inflation, it's like the price, we're finally catching up to it now, and then they're about to yeet a field goal another 50 yards down there and bump these prices up. I haven't heard where they're going to land, but I always go back to my oracle inside, Nostradamus. He seems to know all. The way this works is I ask Nostradamus a question, and then he permeates his mind there for a bit. He sips on some chai tea, has a slice of pizza, and then he's able to put out probably what's going to happen by using a mixture of Eastern mysticism and also looking at what would make the most sense. And by that I mean, what outcome could he bestow upon us where we'd be like, okay, yeah, I guess I'm not surprised at that. And that's probably what's going to happen. So I asked Nostradamus, what's going on with these certain price increases? And he came back with a figure, a five-figured figure for the new price of LEs. It was $13,600, and then he disappeared into a whiff of smoke. And so when I heard that, I was like, Nostradamus, are you serious? and then I pondered to myself and I said self I wouldn't be surprised at that I would be surprised at an LE prices of fourteen thousand dollars um I guess I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they maintained at least for the first part of the year but if they turned and burned on the next turn cornerstone release thirteen thousand six hundred dollars for the next thousand run nine hundred run whatever they're going to do Nostradamus wasn't clear on that um I guess I wouldn't be surprised at that figure what i would not be at that figure is a buyer i'm sorry um you know i love the lex men that i got behind me but i'm looking at prices man and new in the box 11 5 right now we're not even what are we like two three months after release of this banger game this is a jack dangers game man this is like the the spiritual follow-up to foo fighters it's got crazy ball pass it's got more wire forms you know it's got you know concepts of a story right that are beginning. I can see where they're going to take the code. Nostradamus had bestowed upon me some ethereal wisdom about how the fact that as you do modes in X-Men and you unlock the characters, you save them from death. When you go into the future, they're going to play different attributes based on which ones you're taking into the future with you. And wouldn't that be awesome if the future mode in this game actually had something interesting to do? That would not surprise me if that's where it ends up. Wason, I know you're on it. So that's what I'm expecting. that's what I want to see.

  • “How cool would it be to have Ghostbusters remastered, LCD screen, expression lights, backbox lights, fresh coat of paint... no flipper gap, so it plays well and probably how it always should have played in the first place”

    Don @ ~Ghostbusters remaster segment — Don articulates vision for meaningful remaster redesign (flipper gap fix, CAD redesign, new art) vs. cosmetic refresh

  • “These guys don't have to sell 2,000 games just to get to, okay, I guess this was a success, we can break even now. With whatever they've sold now, I'm sure they're happy with it.”

    Don @ ~Evil Dead wrap-up — Explains fundamental business model difference between Spooky and Stern; sustainability at different production scales

    • Jurassic Park (Home Edition)
    game
    Trongame
    Ghostbustersgame
    Jawsgame
    Godzillagame
    Venomgame
    Konggame
    Harry Pottergame
    Mandaloriangame
    John Wickgame
    Brian Eddyperson
    Keith Elwinperson
    Mad Pinballcompany
    1-Up Loungevenue
    Ed Owensperson
    Dwight Sullivanperson
    Costcocompany

    medium · Don states 'People are talking about remasters coming once a year now'; advises Tron owners to sell before remaster; estimates 5-year pipeline of remasters; 'Nostradamus' sabbatical before next prediction

  • ?

    design_philosophy: John Wick's level-up system criticized for lack of progression payoff; Dungeons & Dragons has similar issue; successful examples (Jaws, Mandalorian) implement in-game currency stores for optional purchases and progression rewards

    medium · Don playing John Wick at level 45 with no rewards; D&D praised for leveling concept but criticized for meaningless progression; Don advocates for in-game store adoption across games

  • ?

    business_signal: Stark contrast in business models: Stern requires 3,000+ unit sales to break even; Spooky Pinball profitable with 500-700 unit runs; reflects different manufacturing scales, margins, and sustainability models

    high · Don explicitly contrasting break-even thresholds; Stern selling 1,500 units = failure; Spooky selling 500 = success; Evil Dead pre-order run of 673 described as exceeding expectations for Spooky

  • ?

    community_signal: Strong community sentiment favoring Spooky's business model, transparency, fan listening, and post-purchase support vs. Stern's corporate scale; describes Spooky as 'everything we would want'

    high · Don's extended eulogy to Spooky's brand; 'plucky company that started from nothing... blossomed into sprawling compound on hilltop'; approval of founders' dedication and appearance ('hashtag bug stash')

  • ?

    product_concern: Ghostbusters LE/Premium units have unusually wide flipper gap; Don proposes remaster should redesign flipper placement via CAD and playfield art adjustments to fix fundamental design issue

    high · Don stating flipper gap 'pisses me off'; friend Ed Owens had to learn workaround; Don proposes center post option or full flipper repositioning with new art package as remaster solution

  • ?

    product_launch: Evil Dead (Spooky) entering production end of December 2024; Don monitoring pre-order inventory daily (currently 215 units remaining)

    high · Don stating 'Evil Dead is supposed to enter production at the end of this month'; tracking Spooky website order limits; 673 units sold = 215 remaining from estimated 888 capacity

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Tron remaster rumored as next Stern remaster; mixed community reaction; one vendor argued 'Nobody cares about Tron,' but Don sees potential if modernized with new Tron movie tie-in aesthetic

    medium · Don hearing 'whispers in the blogosphere'; vendor at 'show floor' arguing against Tron remaster for 45 minutes; Don hedging that modernization (EL wires, LCD, better shots) could change his opinion

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball struggling with game backlog (Godfather, Toy Story 4, Guns and Roses) not moving at MSRP; prices down $2,500+ below list, with Godfather 'not even worth the discount'

    high · Don citing JJP backlog as cautionary example for what happens when games overprice; used as model for potential Stern LE distribution failure if priced at $13.6k

    • 4:23
    But for 11.5 now, three months out, it's kind of been like this, but never like this, like this. So when I look back at the last few releases, Venom, come on, 9K all day for an LE. The only game that seems to be holding its value, again, Mr. Elwin's games, particularly the ones with the banger themes and the banger layouts. Sorry, Avengers, I know you're $11,000 for your LE with your yellow powder coat and everything. and like I like you but I don't love you but my god man Jaws a game which for me is a Godzilla killer just because of the theme carries it over I think Godzilla has better layout a little better code and gameplay Jaws is just the whole better package so it just ekes out there above but I wouldn't hate you for saying that Godzilla is better number one and number two clearly Jaws LE still $13,000 with that white powder coated armor so fun to touch and it comes with the shooter rod i thought we were really on a nice value trend there with stern when they dangled the shooter rod attached to the le and then they pulled it away from us just pulled it away but then they gave us some expression lights with metallica so i can't be that bad i can't be that mad but i'm telling you we get to january second week of january and they're like here it is brian at these dungeons and dragons check it out log in pick your class and then uh you know play around There's a fast lock in there, probably. There's points to gain, and you go up in levels, maybe unlock some gear or something. Maybe that will carry over game to game with your character as you go through. And then maybe you can play each of the four different classes, and then there could be an ultimate wizard mode if you happen to beat the game four different times with each of the different classes. Your white-made druid can go ahead and blow up the scores or something. So if you tell me that that game, as cool as a concept as that sounds And as fun as that sounds to play, it's $13,600. And I got Venom in my rearview mirror. I just don't know. I don't think even I would jump at that at an LE. And I'm usually a premium buyer, but even then, even then. And so, Don, you say, what about those folks that are telling me, now, you know, there's no used market without a new in-box market. I say, of course not. Of course. Yeah, if no one's buying these new in-box games, they're going to sit in distributors. and then they'll be sold. They just won't be sold at MSRP, right? We see that happening right now with, look at Jersey Jack's backlog of games. Godfather, Toy Story 4, Guns and Freaking Roses. Phenomenal games all. I enjoy all of them. That is not enough to own them at their MSRP price. And in the case of Godfather, not even worth the $2,500 discount. But the exuberance for the games are there, but their prices have come down. I think we would see exactly the same thing happen with unsold new in-box games going forward if they're trying to turn and burn these things at $13,600 plus shipping and taxes. Who's with me? Nostradamus is predicting. So I don't know. I don't like this. What would happen to premiums? $10,500 at least? $10,750? God, pros for just flirting with $8,000? Get all the way up out of here. I want to do a little bit of an in defense of Venom because I did enjoy the game I kind of met it where it was at I also wasn't in on an LE I came in at a premium and so I think for this bonus episode that I'll do for this I haven't done a how did I get it, what happened to it episode in a while so I think I'll drop that on Patreon because I got some comments about Venom and how I think it can be appreciated in a proper way I don't think it deserves all the hate that it's got but as a product for $13,000 feel free to hate away and again that pro is an embarrassment the pro is an embarrassment but we get to that I do that on the bonus show I do that on the bonus show So I guess of course Stern would want to show that they bringing more income more margins and everything. I'm sure they're looking at a price increase. Disney does a price increase two times a year. I'm sure Stern is looking at that. And isn't there a Disney guy working at Stern now too? But I just don't know, man. I don't see sales success at 13.6 for LEs. Tell me what you think. about that. Let me go to my notes. What else are we going to talk about? There's so much going on. There's so much going on. This photo leaked out of a Costco of the Jurassic Park Home Edition on its clearance price of $3,700. That's a deal all day. Though, I think for that price, you could still probably find Led Zeppelin Pro, which would be like a fully featured Cornerstone Pro. But yeah, I wonder how this is all going to shake out. Now these games were purchased by Costco This wasn't Stern putting games out there Seeing if they would sell Stern negotiated with Costco, Costco made a purchase They bought all their units I don't know what the details of the contracts and everything are Like if we don't sell this many you have to buy these back Or whatever But I'm wondering how the penetrance was For those games CN1 right now, four weeks before Christmas For $3,700 Tells me one of two things Either they tried it, it wasn't working And they're just liquidating these things or they tried it, it was pretty successful, and maybe the $3,700 is just for that floor model that's been played for the last six to eight weeks, and they're clearing out their inventory because they all sold. That very well could be as well. I don't know if Stern will ever release figures or anything. The way we will know if this was successful, though, will be next year when a new Star Wars Remastered Home Edition gets released with Insider Connected, and that is one that even I would be interested in, even though those home version games are a little bit smaller. It'll be going up head-to-head with Alice's Adventures Through Wonderland, or what's that Wonderland company calling their new game? Their sub-thousand-dollar game that they want to come out with. But that was interesting. I knew the price would come down. I was thinking it would land somewhere like $42.97 with an asterisk on it. But $3,700, man, that's price to move. Now, that's not across the board. Shoot, these games aren't even at Costco's across the board. I think they targeted higher-performing, higher-margined Costcos, and those are the warehouses that actually got these machines. All of my local warehouses in the Madison, Wisconsin area have not seen one of these Jurassic Park machines. Correct me if I'm wrong, but peeking in them, I didn't see any. The Rockford, Illinois Costco did have it. I think I popped into three different Costcos one day on a trip to Chicago. I only saw them at one. It was that Rockford one. When I went to the one that's right by Interium there at the Woodfield Mall, nary one could be seen and that's just a hop stick and a nudge bump away from stern's own headquarters right so interesting interesting that it's out there that's going to be somebody's cool ass birthday present some cool dad out there is going to win christmas by bringing his pinball naive family a jurassic park home edition and uh they're going to go nuts with it they're going to go nuts with it i guess it's it's good that the uh like glass doesn't lift off or anything you You can somehow free the balls up without actually opening the glass. Or it's sealed somehow so balls can't get lost. So when you unfold the game, they're already in there and ready to go. Kind of cool. I like that they did this. I like that I'm pinball savvy enough to know that if I really wanted a game for that $3,500 to $4,500 price point, I could probably find a more fully featured game. But for the general public, man, more pinball, more fun, grow the hobby, get more people in there. I love it. The more money that's in the industry as a whole is going to be good for our little microcosm of an economy and will spurn further production. So I ain't mad at you. Plus, I got to play pinball when I went to Costco this year. That was super fun. I want to see it continue. I think Star Wars Home Edition would be the next logical step for that to go. I'm using electronic notes here, so I've got to refer back to my phone. Metallica SLE. I must have been drunk when I wrote this. There's no Metallica SLE that I've heard about. I've been hearing all about the Metallica Limited Editions, though, particularly the price tag. This I was not expecting. I don't know that I was necessarily expecting the LEs to sell out as quickly as they did. That was surprising. But, like, the persistence of demand for this game is unreal right now, especially with what we've been seeing over the last year and a half with pinball prices, with inflations, buy super high, sell super low, deals everywhere. It's like everybody's getting divorced at the same time. It just has to liquidate or something. So I've been seeing this game. People have been talking about making deals for around $18,000 for these Metallica LEs. And like all day, if I had one of these, it would be out the door at 18. Forget it. There's no way I'm keeping it. If those prices are still going, I think they're starting to soften now. But if you can get northwards of $17,000 on a brand new Metallica LE that you bought for $12,999 $99 or $12.5 if you've got a sweetheart deal. Turn and burn that thing, man. The game's cool, man. The art looks great. The game plays well. It already comes loaded with the lights, so it saves you that hassle. There's Invisiglass and a shaker motor. It's plug and play, ready to go. I get it. The game's phenomenal. But it's not phenomenal like leave $5,000 on the table phenomenal. I mean, come on. Turn and burn that thing to somebody else. Make their day. Take that money. go get yourself a premium man they're running off the line they're unlimited they're going to make them forever you could always get one there's going to be plenty right and even if you spent the 96.99 msrp for this thing you're still going to clear you know another 7k man so go get on something else or go buy a car upgrade that hot tub or you know uh send your ex-wife a nice present i don't know something but like there's no way at eighteen thousand dollars i would keep my thirteen thousand dollar game i'd be like all day here i will set it up for you sir white glove no problem um because what's going to happen is this game's going to peak it's it's very much everybody's looking at it right now it's the the the hot doll on the dance floor for great reason but man once we get on the other side of king kong and harry potter and dungeons and dragons and evil dead like there's going to be something else and i think we'll see these prices slide right on down here's the thing they only made a premium version of this game the le has the extra dressing on it right the extra cider ranch but you can get a premium you can put it in visit glass the shaker motor get yourself the lights they're 600 200 more for the the back box ones you know find somebody who can get access to a nice upgraded trans light and you're basically there right you're basically there other than the bragging rights of having this damn thing in your house i mean come on so practically that's where i'm at and i just got the notification like not an hour ago that i owe money to mad pinball because it sounds like my metallica is ready now early on when uh i was reached out by a customer that ordered a custom build of metallica i'm gonna make that thing freaking sing dude i've got the laser cut armor from cab custom i've got the art blazers are going in it man i got the trans light the whole thing's getting upgraded it's going to be fantastic dude oh dude i'm making the shooter rod, man. I can't wait to show off my plan for that. The best one I ever did. Best one I've ever did, for sure.
    15:42
    That's a great idea for it, too. Oh, my God, the Napster tie-in. It's going to be awesome, man. It's going to be so awesome. And the customer's going to be super happy with this. It's going out on location again. Bellingham, Washington, 1UP Lounge. Get ready, man, because you're going to have the rockinest build of Metallica ever. And it's going to be every bit as good as an LE. It's just not going to have that plaque on there, right? But you could get one so much cheaper right now, man. Sell that LE. Get the cheaper one. You still get the Metallica all day, dude. Come on, dude. That's what I would do. Otherwise, the game Super Special would stand out in your game room. Dude, if you love it, keep it and enjoy it man There no shame in that I think you be able to find one later Even if it probably not I don know if it will dip down past MSRP though I could see them realistically 14 is maybe where they will land Again, after Harry Potter, after Kong, after everything that's coming next. But, man, what a great game to launch this remastered trend from Stern. Let's stay on them for a little bit because I've heard Tron's next now. There's Whispers that are out there and the Blagosphere. People still use that term. uh, that this Tron remasters coming next. Uh, some people have strong opinions. Well, one guy from the app, a show floor who was selling glow in the dark mini golf of all things, had some very specific ideas of how that is a terrible idea. Nobody cares about Tron. And then dude talked to me for like, it seemed like 45 minutes straight or at least 45 minutes of content packed into 10 minutes. I was rescued by my friends. Thank God. But geez, man, was this guy hot on it saying that Tron would be the worst idea? I don't really think so. I, I think, uh, But, you know, okay. So Tron, game, I don't really care about. Plastic ramps, you know, the aesthetic's kind of cool. The girls on the Translight, yeah, I mean, it looks okay. It's Tron. It plays okay. Just nothing really ever, like, drew me into it, right? It's like I never really felt compelled to play Tron. You know, play a game, okay, I'm moving on to something else in the arcade. People still seem to really just love this game for some reason. I don't personally get it. But I can tell you this. if it was remastered, you know, and the shots were kind of, you know, tightened up a little bit more, and, you know, there was some new breaths of code in there, some new effects, you know? Like, you know, what if there's some, you know, better, you know, EL wires or something where everything's really glowing and kicking? Of course it would have expression lights. It would have a better sound package. It would have the LCD screen. I could see this something I may be able to actually warm up to, especially if it's tied in with, like, a Neutron movie, So it was like a new Tron aesthetic, but a fresh coat of varnish on this thing, a fresh coat of relevance. And then maybe I would warm up to it. So if you got a Tron and you don't, like, love it, maybe list it before next year when we see this. People are talking about remasters coming once a year now, so three cornerstones plus a remaster. I can dig it. I think they've got five years of remasters in the chamber, right? I think Ghostbusters would be next. I think there's two ways that I would approach that. I would redesign it so you could recredit a new designer and address that part of the business. As far as a flipper gap, there's two ways to fix that, one of which the easiest thing to do would be to drop a center post, right? And then, you know, if you hate the center post, you take it out. And if you dig the center post, you don't have to pay for that extra mod to go in there, that acrylic with the post that you could have between the flippers. And then that would fix the flipper gap issue. The other way to fix the flipper gap, and this is what I would like to see personally, and I think this would be a fantastic idea, I would like to see that flipper gap just go away completely and so go back to probably how the game should have been designed in the first place with a more traditional flipper gap distance. And then what you would have to do then is redesign all the shots and the geometry because that would change everything. And I say to that, sir, good. Why the heck not, right? Like, what does that involve? It involves opening up the CAD software, You know, put the flippers in their new location and then, you know, shift everything over by millimeters and half centimeters until everything kind of adjusts to the new flipper location, right? The shots will still be in the same place. The geometry on the flipper will be slightly different, but you'll learn that. And then how cool would it be to have Ghostbusters remastered, LCD screen, expression lights, back box lights, fresh coat of paint, you know, cool art on the sides and everything, no flipper gap, so it plays well and probably how it always should have played in the first place. And then, like, all the shots all line up with the new flippers, right? Why can't that be done? You know, adjust everything, throw it on the CNC, cut new play fields, art. You have to adjust the art a little bit. It would probably get a fresh new art package anyway. Metallica did. Tron will have one. So you just do a new art package and things. And here's like a beefier, maybe darker take, less slapstick, less Saturday morning cartoon, and more like true to the actual theme of the movie itself with the assets and everything. Throw some extra call-outs in there. Danny Aykroyd's still doing work. I mean, tell me this thing wouldn't be awesome if it comes out. You purists out there would say, no, don't mess with my flipper gap. It's my game. I love it. Wait till you see the new one. with a topper that's redesigned and not the same size as the minuscule Metallica topper, man. So I think that would be coming. Nostradamus has not weighed in on this just yet. He's out on sabbatical. But when he comes around here in another six to eight months, when we have a little bit more foresight, I think that may be something we could see. Let me know what you think. Ghostbusters remastered and redesigned. I think it would make an absolute cherry on a cake. And I think I would probably get one at that point. Ghostbusters is a game I appreciate it is fun I do like the subway ramp but like number one it's not worth the prices number two the flipper gap pisses me off but I've seen a friend of mine Ed Owens how you doing man blow the hell out of this game up and I was like okay I'm starting to get it so you bring me a remastered Ghostbusters that is something I'd be interested in that would be a $13,600 LE for sure even without the topper and everything man what do you think let me know You can always email me at DonSpinballPodcast at gmail.com, follow in the Discord, and also on the Facebook page. We're all over the place. So what else do I have to talk about?
    22:01
    Dungeons and Dragons by Brian Eddy with Dwight Sullivan on the code. Oh, my God. Not a sales juggernaut. What's going on with this game? I want to like it. I like Brian Eddy's last game. I like Venom. We'll talk about it on the show there. The idea of leveling up, fantastically awesome. Why has Tim Sexton seemed to abandon that idea for John Wick? I have no idea. I was just playing Wick again today, getting back into it. You know, I rotate through the lineup. You know, I move up, I move down slowly. You know, I was in a Pulp Fiction phase a couple weeks ago. I just went through a big spooky phase, and now I'm kind of getting back into John Wick and WrestleMania, man. It's all good. So game shoots well, and I'm collecting all these John Wick points. I'm at level 45 now or something. I get excited every time I level up. And then come to find out it means absolutely nothing. We can't leave it on that, man. There's got to be an in-game store. There's got to be some upgrades I could buy. As I increase in level, I should be able to have an optional longer ball save or something, man. Something. Let me cash in my wake points for an extra ball if I'm having a particularly good game that I don't want to just give away. Give me something. Something to do with these points. We saw in-game currency systems, which started actually on another Brian Eddy game. Mandalorian with the Beskar, going in and buying little attributes in the in-game store. Love that part of it. So we see it used to great effect in Jaws, where you can go in there and use your shark teeth to play these other optional games, different modes and everything. Fantastic. More of that, please. So if we can get that into Dungeons & Dragons, I think that would save the game. Who is this game for? This sounds like a game that would be for operators, for sure. I don't know if they do a price increase, maybe not, but to have the newest game out there and to build a loyal following of people that want to log in and increase their levels and build towards something and some kind of payoff, I can see it working well for them. For us home players that want a game that we can kind of lose ourselves into and play through 500 times and max out all our levels and things, I can see it working for those folks, of which I'm one of them. but you've got to go in there knowing that it's just going to be hard to move these things afterwards I can't see anything with this being a sales persistent juggernaut it's not Jaws it's not Kong it's going to be a game we'll see what happens in other news let turn a leaf now completely switch gears is there a different pinball company from Stern than Spooky as far as like just different scope, different scale, different vibe, different goals, right? You know what I mean? Stern Pinball, they release a game, they sell 1,500 of them overnight, and that's like a failure to them, you know? They need to have, like, 3,000 going plus persistent sales going on and then toppers and things releasing. Spooky Pinball turned around. I think if they would have sold 450 Evil Deads, they would have been high-fiving and meeting their sales goal and have the whole year of production basically lined up, right? And so then they go and sell clear through 500 day one. Fantastic. I've been watching the sales of the game. If you go to the website and go to put down a pre-order deposit, hopefully this doesn't tie up their order banks or anything. But if you try to order more than they have in supply, it comes back and tells you, sorry, only this many are available. You've got to be here or less. And so right now, that's at 215. I tried to order 250 Evil Deads about five minutes ago, and it told me the most that I could get is 215. Don't be greedy, Don. Don't be greedy. So I've been watching this, you know, every day, every other day. I pop in there just to kind of gauge where they're at. I was in on this game day one, 10 minutes after the order banks opened. I tore myself away from Avatar. I was in the middle of a four-player game, and I went ahead and ordered my Evil Dead. And by the time my ball was back up, it was already purchased. I love the game for the price I've already played it, I don't have any excuses I'm in on it, I can't wait I want this game tomorrow I want to load the shotgun over and over again, I want to hear all the Bruce callouts I want to play the updated code that I haven't got to play yet what I was playing was very preliminary but the shots were really fun I just want to get back into that world it's got everything I like about Texas Chainsaw Massacre and then just more the callouts are a little more funny It's a little more lighthearted, you know, where TCM is very kind of dark humor, right? Cannibals and such. Ash is very much like surreal horror. And I just want to get back into that world, man, of the evil dead. And then, you know, spooky and beyond, whatever they're coming out with next. So, you know, for them, right, you got Stern Pinball, giant factory, seven-foot silver stainless steel ball out front, you know, Huge corner curbside appeal. It's like a Costco-sized warehouse, man, just massive. And then you've got, on a hilltop in Wisconsin, Spooky Pinball, this plucky company that started from literally nothing and just out of passion and sheer determinants and just ignorance of the future risk, just blossomed into this sprawling compound now on a hilltop in Wisconsin. And now it's run by two guys that love what they do and listen to the fans of what they want and are trying their hardest to make that and also be transparent and also help support their games with service after purchase. It's kind of like everything we would want, man. No wonder these guys are garnering such a good following.
    27:31
    And they're not hard on the eyes either. I mean, that's obvious. Come on. Hashtag bug stash. So the game is fun.
    27:44
    I can't wait to play it. But as far as sales-wise, these guys don't have to sell 2,000 games just to get to, okay, I guess this was a success, we can break even now.
    27:53
    With whatever they've sold now, I'm sure they're happy with it. 215 left means they've sold 673 either directly through the website or through distributors. And so, dude, these guys are probably waking up every morning like, all right, it's time to now pull this off. Let's get these games into production. And so last I had heard, Evil Dead is supposed to enter production at the end of this month. And so then when January comes up after the break, like, it'll just be a continuation. Everybody will be trained up. They'll jump into them, you know, start kicking out five to ten games a week at first and then build up to the 40 a month or whatever that they end up doing. Can't wait, man. Can't wait. Hopefully I can keep pestering them. I'll even go down there and I'll build the topper my damn self if it helps spur things along. I really want to play this game. It seems to me that I'll be playing Metallica even sooner than that, for which I am, you know, dutifully excited about.
    28:47
    And yeah, man, I mean, that's pinball for where we're at right now. Having a fun time making over these games. I'm just about done with my two X-Men. The premium is sold. The LE still hasn't found a buyer yet. I've been slowly whispering around, but I haven't got aggressive with pin site or marketing or anything. X-Men LE, a beautiful game. Graphics are awesome. My game is shooting just fine. I did put the longer shooter rod on there that really helped. The fix should be coming up here in another two weeks for the back plastic, the anti-airball shooter lane protector plastic thing, and then the new metal ball guide about halfway up. Based on the one that I played at IAPA, bang on, it's shooting great. We fixed the shooter issue with this thing. Code continues to come out. The future is going to make a lot more sense. I'm excited for where X-Men is going. I'm not ready to give up on it yet. The market currently has softened on it. I think people got spooked about the shooter lane issues.
    29:43
    But still, it's a game where they only made 800 of the LEs, not 1,000 out there, so it's not as superfluous as some other games. I think it's just struggling a little bit out of the gate, and probably the timing issues of the game had something to do with that. But I can tell you now that I have these two games dialed in, they're playing fun. I'm appreciating everything that's going on. There's no shots that feel like they're unfair. There's no quick drains or anything. One of the other problems we're running into is this game does require a little bit of dialing in with special attention to the leveling, particularly the 6.5 degree tilt and the left and right especially to keep balls from just unfairly going straight down the middle. And, you know, there's games that are on location that just haven't been set up to those quite specifications. And people are playing it and they're not having the best experience that they can with this game. I'll tell you, it wasn't much. I'm not even perfect left to right, and they're both playing pretty phenomenally. I played some on location fresh out of the box, and you can tell that they really need dialed in. So if your location has opened this game up, put it on the floor, has not updated it, and has not leveled and serviced it properly, you're going to have a bad time with it. You're going to have a good time with it, just not as great as it would be. So the game is fun. It is one I purchased to make over and then sell. So as much as I like it, I've got to get it out of here for budgetary reasons. and so I haven't listed a price for it yet. Got to give something to the listeners here. I'm feeling flirtatious. I don't know if I really want to say a price. You know what? Email me with an offer because it will be sold ultimately at best offer. And if that best offer is $10.50 for a game that's got a powder-coated door, powder-coated speaker panel, all the mods I made for it, and a topper, like the whole thing comes complete, I mean, that's the best offer. That's what it's going to sell for. So I think I'll field offers between now and a couple weeks from now. Once I'm completely finished with the game, which should be here shortly, I'll go ahead and make an official pin side posting for it and all that business. But until then, you know, if I come by with a good offer and we shake on a deal, then you can get it probably at a steal, man. And we ship nationwide. It's no problem at all. Heck, if you're local, they can come and set it up for you. What else is coming with pinball? What's coming next? There should be a pinball show sometime soon. It's supposed to happen yesterday. I've been hitting refresh every 15 minutes like a nervous teenager. I need me some Zach Many. I'm sure it's coming. Join me over on the Discord. We talk there constantly, all day, man. Just try to put up with Dave Slaymaker, man. If you can hang with him, man, I don't think anybody else would get you. Water off the proverbial duck's back. Where's that outro music?
    32:21
    Dallas Pinball Podcast, gmail.com is where you can get at me. Pinball's fun, man. Let's continue to celebrate it. Check out the Discord. Check out the YouTube channel. I just put on some plexi arc blades on WWE WrestleMania from Custom Pinball. I did a little short video on that. It's shared also on the Facebook page, which you should be following. Let's get to 5,000. All right, guys. More to come this week, as we know it. Head to the after show later.